ROSE PETAL OVERLOAD- HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN ROSE WATER

by Andrea ( Bea )Vonk • 08/06/2014

Photo: Andrea ( Bea ) Vonk  Styling: Andrea ( Bea) Vonk

When I was wandering around the garden this morning I realised I was going to have a bit of a rose petal overload problem very soon.June is just about my most favourite month as all of the roses are then coming out, but roses flowering also mean petals everywhere . I thought to harness this gold rush of flower petals into something useful and a quick search gave me a wonderful recipe for quick home made rose water .

Here's how to make your rose water :

1.Pick your petals .

2. Wash the petals thoroughly so that eventual small insects that are on there are removed.
3.Place the petals in a large pot and add the distilled water.Add just enough water to cover the petals

4.Cover the pot then simmer on a low flame.

5.Let the water simmer till the petals have lost their colour and the water has taken on the colour of the rose petals.

6.Strain the rose petal water through a fine sieve and keep in a bottle or container in the fridge.

Once you've got your rose water supply covered, there is nothing from keeping you making the most fantastic things with it, like a raspberryand rosewater cheesecake .

Or keep it simple and use it on your ironing.As if that is ever going to happen with me. But cake sounds good.

SWEET TASTE OF SUMMER- FRESH ELDER FLOWER CORDIAL

by Andrea ( Bea )Vonk • 07/06/2014

Photo: Andrea ( Bea ) Vonk  Styling: Andrea ( Bea) Vonk

Nothing says " Summer" like some fresh elder flower cordial made with your own fair hands.

Those elder trees that are frowned upon by many gardeners as they seed themselves easily in every bit of space where they are not wanted, transform themselves in early summer.

Then they are covered in beautiful lacy flower heads that have a fabulous tangy scent .

Those flower heads can be picked everywhere right now .Make sure you get yourselves some before they are gone to transform into cordial (and keep some champagne handy )  !

Here's how to make your cordial :

1.Pick your elder flowers .

2. Shake the flower heads over the sink so that eventual small insects that are on the flowers, fall off.
3.Take all the stalks off the flower heads so you have a bowl full of flowers.

4.Boil the water, then pour it over the sugar in a big bowl, so the sugar dissolves. Let it cool down.

5.Slice your lemons, then take a big pan, and put the lemon slices and the flowers in the bottom and add the cooled down sugar water .Add the citric acid- in my case 4 tablets of fizzy vitamin C tablets which have citric acid ( this does really work ! ).

6.Cover with a lid or plate and let it stand for 24 hours in the fridge.

7.The next day, strain the cordial through a fine sieve.

Serve with ice and chilled fizzy water , or even better, with champagne and a spring of mint .

Elder flower cordial with champagne.

25 ml Elder flower cordial

25 ml Gin

50 ml Champagne

Mint sprig.

Add gin, lime and elder flower cordial to glass.Top with champagne and garnish with mint.

HAPPY WEEKEND

by Andrea ( Bea )Vonk • 06/06/2014

Photo: Andrea ( Bea ) Vonk  

Happy weekend ! Say a little prayer for my little doggie Millie if you can ( here on our holiday last year ) so she may recover swiftly.The vet has told us she has a trapped nerve in her back so she has real trouble walking .The cure : 3 to 6 weeks cage-rest-poor Millie! She is taking it very well but let's hope she will recover.   hope you enjoy a lovely relaxing time this weekend with your family . 

 XO Bea 

SUMMER FLOWERS : D FOR DOG-ROSE

by Andrea ( Bea )Vonk • 06/06/2014

Photo: Andrea ( Bea ) Vonk  Styling: Andrea ( Bea) Vonk

If there’s one flower that we see at this time of year when we go for a walk in the English countryside , it's the Dog-rose. I't's such a pleasure to come across it, as it holds  for us both links to the past and to today.The dog rose was the stylised rose of medieval European heraldry and  according to the Victorian language of flowers, symbolises pleasure and pain. Dog roses, with their innocent and modest  open flowers seem to hark back to a simpler and better time and I feel privileged every time I come across them .In autumn, it produces bright red rosehips that are often eaten by birds.It can also be a useful plant in your garden too - the nectar -filled flowers attract many insects. The fruit is noted for it's high vitamin C level and is used to make syrup, tea and jam and I fondly recollect the rose-hip jams my mum used to make when I was a child .It certainly is worthwhile trying to re-create these this autumn.   I’ve included some more details below on this adorable flower.   xo, Bea

Additional Information about the dog-rose :

• Full Name: Rosa Canina
• Varieties: There are many species of thw wild rose, which are all very similar , they all have white or pink flowers, throns and red hips in winter .
• Size: Dog-roses grow as a scrambling shrub, and can span from 1-5 m, though sometimes it can scramble higher into the crowns of taller trees.  

CRAZY ABOUT RUGBY : A QUICK PRESENT

by Andrea ( Bea )Vonk • 06/06/2014

Photo's : Andrea ( Bea ) Vonk  Styling: Andrea ( Bea) Vonk

MODERN COUNTRY LADY-CRAFT 

 NAME CUSHION 

 CRAFTY FRIDAY  

I've always loved personalised cushions- it's a unique way to say how much you value the person you are giving the present to.. here's my easy modern twist for a great present ! 

 You will need : 

white cotton or linen 

different scraps of colored fabric

 " Bondaweb" or similar iron-on adhesive for fabric 

1. Take a simple pillow slip with an envelope closing at the back as your example for a pattern .

2 .Cut your white cotton or linen according to this pattern.If you want to achieve a small rectangular cushion simple adjust the size a bit.

3.Print off the name of the person for which the cushion will be made in a font you like on your printer.

4.Cut out the letters in paper then arrange on the different coloured fabric and move around till you have a combination of colours you like.  

5. Cut out the fabric letters using the paper font letters as a guide line.

6 .Iron some " Bondaweb" or other similar fabric adhesive that will attach one fabric to another on the back of the letters , then iron the letters to the cushion.If need be you can also as an extra measure, zigzag the letters to the fabric as well.

7. Add an image in fabric underneath the name , again using " Bondaweb".Choose an image that is perfect for the person you are making it for, so say a rugby ball for someone who is crazy about rugby, or a tennis racket for a tennis fan- then gift it to the lucky friend you made it for-proudly.Always better than anything you can buy for them . 

Cushion design : Andrea ( Bea ) Vonk  Card Design: Andrea ( Bea) Vonk

REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL

The sun's out and we have a new prince.How good is that !
I am working on some new designs and came up with this for fun. Sort of for the little prince or for your own little prince! :-)

I seem to be best when I don't mean to be too serious and don't try too hard but just goof around.
It took some time to get back into my whole creative stride .The couple of months of hard work doing the house make-over drained me a bit I guess.

So I am only just starting getting back into making, designing and photographing ( and blogging ! ).

I don't have a fancy phone so I can't really take Instamatic pictures, but I've been playing around a bit on pixlr-o-matic

Here are some pictures  I played around with on this free photoeditor :-) It's very enjoyable to play around with vintage effects, you must try it ! You can intensify the colours and add an old looking border and stuff like that.
As you can see from these piccies, I have been playing  around with my dogs, my garden and my designs and embroidery.And it's been really enjoyable.

So here's to more celebrating and a little bit more summer.See you later, people!

XO

Bea

DOES THE PERFECT BATHROOM EXIST?

 

 If you would ask me straight I would say : " No."
But then I am picky .

And most people are probably , just like me, stuck with a bathroom the size of the inside of your shoe.


This was the bathroom I had for the last ten years- getting that little bit grubbier every year- with bits falling apart and the taps leaking.

So here are some things I did.
I kept the tiles but painted the rest of the wall and panelling white.
 Then my plan was to go for this on the walls.Which I stencilled and turned out like this.

"It doesn't do much for me" said my mother in law, when we both leaned back and stared at the wall.
And I had to give it to her, she was right.
Don't you just hate it when that happens.
I chucked some paint together that I had to get a pink , repainted the darn thing, , then plonked the meadow stencil from the bedroom on top.


It was a fluke but I found it much more bearable.
I then got a ladder to use as a towel rail after painting it white.

And then got a freestanding bath on Ebay for not too much money.
Is this my perfect bathroom?
Probably not.But it is a hell of a lot better than it was.
And very pleasant .So it turns out I am just a simple person with simple tastes after all.
Some bubbly and some bubbles and I am happy.
The End.

Have a great week people!

XOXO

Bea

IS LIFE TOO SHORT FOR HOUSE-MAKE OVERS?

 

I don't know about you, but my house is usually a mess . Books , pets and work everywhere .I usually slap a paint on , hope it will last, then get on with more interesting creative stuff like craft projects and goodness knows what else.

Cooking. Eating. Walking my dogs. Designing .

I am just too busy to paint and clean the outside and to worry about if the bedroom has the right kind of look right now. 

These blue walls which you can see, I had for at least the last 10 years.

But, of course, in the meantime those walls got more and more ropey ( and mouldy) and the curtains weren't that great anymore either.

So when I got a call that my house was so pretty and could people come to take photographs, I really had

to get something going. Like cleaning . Painting.And making curtains and all those other things to make a

room pretty.

Here's some pictures to show you the stuff I did.

 I painted all the walls a sort of beigey ( self mixed ) colour , upholstered a footstool in a matching fabric, and made some  curtains which I designed and handprinted myself

The beige was dull as ditchwater so I decided to stencil something on top of it, inspired by Rockett St George's " Wild Meadow " wallpaper

It helps you to not to slash your wrists out of sheer beigey boredom .

I had some built-in cupboards with some plain white doors which had defeated me for the last then years so did a sort of Orangery style stencil on it.Not sure if this is the perfect solution but it will have to do for now.

I stapled some green-and white ticking around a hideous headboard I found,.. and painted a blanket box and side table pale green ( also a mix of paints I still had so don't aks me the name of the paint as it's just a fluke ).

Is life too short for house -makeovers ??

It practically always is.But if you hurry and speed up with the painting and don't spend too much time on the whole thing and what -have you, you are pleasantly surprised every morning you wake up.

"Heck" , you think" where the devil am I ? O, crikey it's my own house!" And then you think of the whole day you spend cleaning the walls before you could paint them , turn around in bed once more and try forget  all about that bit .Because that is the part you really don't want to remember .

Anyhow, enjoy  the pictures.I may show some more.

O. and the dogs are certainly relieved it's all over.

Have a great rest of the week, people!

XOXO

Bea

PROCRASTINATION IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL

 

 At least that is what I hope. Because today I have done b*gger all and I now feel refreshed as a daisy.
I have some dull cupboards in my  bedroom that I was planning to be doing a make-over on, and as I am on a minimal budget I decided on some decorative painting with scrolls and flower baskets and such stuff.  

 But I became rather stuck.
So today I let it go and played different bedding and things like that , and procrastinated like crazy....

while my dogs made sure the whole shebang here remains messy to keep me suitably relaxed .

They like the old tussle on the bed, and it keeps me distracted and stops me from worrying about what the heck I am supposed to hang over the bed now that the decorative wooden carving I painted looks rubbish where I want to put it.

Why is interior decorating so difficult ?Thank goodness for animal distractions!


You know cats  love cardboard boxes and things that are specifially not for them, like shopping baskets.
So I reckoned placing an old cat bed in a big toy bag would probably work a treat.And I wasn't far wrong.

 You can always count on Thomasina being there when you need her!

 Of course having 2 cats, this inevitably happened..

One-nil I think :-)

Have a great rest of the week ,people!

XOXO

Bea

MODERN COUNTRY LADY'S BEDROOM MAKE-OVER

I made the best of the good weather this week and did a lot of outside painting of furniture for the main bedroom.Here are some pieces being transformed- an old blanket box, a side table and a decorative piece of wood carving which I figured I could make into the headboard .

Some quick shots of the make-over in progress..

Here are my handpainted curtains ( I still need to make the curtains to the right of the window)- this is when the wall was still painted blue.

 ..footstool make-over..

and an " after" up to now.. - I need the headboard above the bed - still haven't hung it up- and I may do a design or stencil on the wall which I find  a bit dull..- o-well,

 .

Have a great weekend, people!!

XOXO

Bea